Personal Statement and Autobiography

Autobiography
• GOAL: For the Health Professions Committee to provide in‐depth information about you as a person
• Heavily relied upon to draft committee letters
• Should be a lengthy narrative (5‐10 pages, double‐spaced) that is chronological, and highlights and explains the key experiences in your past leading up to where you are today. Use this opportunity to also discuss any shortcomings in your background (e.g., poor grades in freshman year, late realization of your interest in the health profession, etc).
• Should address the following:
1. Your motivation for professional school
2. Your story – what makes you unique
3. Your qualifications and experiences
• Although the writing does not need to be perfect, please take time to do the following:
1. Prepare and gather information that you want to include (e.g., your resume, journal, etc)
2. Draft the autobiography
3. Review to see whether there are any “gaps” in your story that you have not explained
4. Finalize
5. We often include quotes from your autobiography in our HPC letters, so correct grammar
and spelling are still important

Personal Statement
• GOAL: For admissions committee members to understand who you are as a person
• Should be a succinct, one‐page (e.g., 4500 characters) narrative that displays clear language and writing skills
o Remember: Admissions committee members read up to 50 essays a day
• Should address the following:
1. Your motivation for professional school
2. Your story – what makes you unique
3. Your qualifications and experiences
• Be honest! If you lie or exaggerate about an experience, you may find yourself in an awkward
position when asked in an interview to describe :o(
• Take time to do the following:
1. Prepare and gather information to include (e.g., your resume, journal, etc)
2. Draft
3. Review and proofread
4. Get feedback from the Health Professions Advising Office, Career Center, and/or Writing
Center
5. Finalize

Writing provided by Dr. Sora Tanjasiri, Department of Health Science

Please visit The Ohio State University's Career Connections' page to view a PowerPoint presentation titled, "Writing Winning Personal Statements" located on the right-hand side. The Career Connections Center at The Ohio State University has agreed to share this highly beneficial presentation with our students.